Actiontec MegaPlug A/V 200 Mbps Powerline Network Adapter Kit (White)

by Actiontec

Product Details

• Product Dimensions: 10.3 x 7.3 x 3.7 inches ; 1.6 pounds
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Shipping: This item is also available for shipping to select countries outside the U.S.
• ASIN: B001OOZ1X2
• California residents: Click here for Proposition 65 warning.
• Item model number: HLE20003-01KP
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (73 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank:
  • #43 in Electronics > Computers & Add-Ons > Networking Products > Network Adapters > Powerline Network Adapters
• Date first available at Amazon.com: December 31, 2008

Product Description

From the Manufacturer

How does it work?

It's simple. The 200 Mbps Ethernet Adapter Twin-Pack uses your home electrical lines to create up to a high speed network throughout your home, giving devices like Blu-Ray players, TiVO, gaming consoles access to the Internet.

Why better than wireless?

"Why don't I just use wireless networking instead? I'm more familiar with it."

Because there are some great advantages to Powerline technology.

• Powerline products have more consistent transmissions. You won't see the kind of fadeouts and connection drops as you do in wireless.
• Powerline works in places where wireless can't. Powerline will give you a strong connection throughout your electrical system, whether connecting into a concrete basement or throughout a large home.
• Powerline can boost your wireless signal when placing a Powerline wireless extender within your powerline network.

The 200 Mbps Ethernet Adapter Twin-Pack contains everything you need to create your Powerline home network, and it's very easy to install.

What's in the box?

The Actiontec MegaPlug 200 Mbps Ethernet Adapter Kit contains the following:

• Two Ethernet adapters
• Two Ethernet cables
• CD - including an installation guide and user manual
• Quick Start guide

Actiontec's Powerline products

Actiontec has a full line of powerline products, each slightly different depending on your needs

Good     Better     Best					Best for ...
	Actiontec Product	Kit	Includes 4-port Ethernet hub	Speed	Extending Wireless Network	Computers/ Gaming/ Blu-Ray/ VoIP	Video/ Home Theaters
	200 Mbps Ethernet Adapter twin-pack	Yes	No
	200 Mbps Ethernet Adapter & 4-port Switch	Yes	Yes
	85 Mbps Ethernet Adapter twin-pack	Yes	No
	85 Mbps Ethernet Adapter & 4-port hub	Yes	Yes

Setup Instructions

STEP 1: Plug first adapter into available port on router.

STEP 2: Plug first adapter into wall.

STEP 3: Plug second adapter cable into the Ethernet or LAN port on the desired product (e.g. Xbox 360). Then plug the second adapter into the wall.

Are all of the lights GREEN? Congratulations, your Xbox360 is now connected to the Internet.

Product Description

Actiontec MegaPlug HPE200AVP Kit Powerline Network Adapter HLE20003-01KP 754

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

28 of 28 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Shock, awe...This kit actually works! Costly, though..., August 19, 2009

By 

David Pearlman "sound fanatic" (Arlington, MA) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Actiontec MegaPlug A/V 200 Mbps Powerline Network Adapter Kit (White) (Personal Computers)

(What's this?)

Years ago, I purchased one of the first through-power-line Ethernet kits on the market. At the time, the claimed throughput was low (say, 10mbps), and the actual throughput was ridiculously slow. Not to mention the fact that the connection seemed to hang inexplicably with great frequency. In a word: Not ready for primetime, not ready for anything, really...

Fast forward nearly a decade. By now, wireless Ethernet routers are cheap and easy to use and just about everyone has one.

Into this environment, Actiontec has dumped their new MegaPlug "200 Mbps" powerline network kit.

Your first question, and it's a good one, is: "What's the point?" And for many people the answer will be "none, really, in your situation."

BUT there are two sets of people for whom something like this--if it works--is a godsend.

First off, there are those who simply cannot set up something like a wireless router. It's not hard, but there are still a lot of complete tech phobes out there. Think: your Grandparents, or maybe even your parents. Sure, you could go over and set things up for them. But then what happens the first time the router goes down and needs to be rebooted or whatever? Panic calls at midnight are not most people's idea of bonus time.

The second set of people who could use something like this, if it works, are those with wireless dead spots in their homes. There are a lot of people like this, actually. No matter where you set up the wireless transmitter, some places just get no signal, or a very lousy one. Now, you can--if you are technically inclined--set up a wireless repeater to address issue. But it's a bit tricky for most people who don't relish spending their Friday night shopping the halls of Frys, Microcenter or BestBuy. This kit offers a simple alternative to a wireless repeater.

OK, enough on who might want this. On to the more significant question: Does it actually work, and how easy is it, really, to set up.

I'll answer the second question first. It is ridiculously, stupidly, unbelievably easy to set this up. Plug one unit in one wall outlet. Run ethernet cable from unit to your router. Plug second unit into another wall outlet anywhere else in your house. Run either cable from unit to the device you want to talk to router. And you are done. Even if you have trouble figuring out how to open the door of a refrigerator, it can't take you more than 5 minutes to set up.

And how does it work? SHOCKINGLY well. In a three story home with about 20 separate circuits (lines on their own circuit breakers), I was unable to find two outlets that could not communicate with each other at a reasonable speed, and without any disruptions. You aren't going to see 200Mbps in the real world, but I saw between 24Mbps and 34Mbps, depending on where I placed the two outlet plugs. Before you sneer, this compares to a normal transfer rate of about 18Mbps for a GOOD wireless G connection. In other words, the Actiontec kit gave transfer rates that were between 33% and 90% FASTER than wireless G!

I can recommend this unconditionally to those who need an alternative to standard wireless with one caveat (and it's a big one): This kit is quite pricey. It runs over a hundred bucks at the time of this writing, as compared to a good quality wireless G router, which can be purchased for as little as $30. In addition, this kit is good for connecting only one location to another single location, whereas wireless is...everywhere.

But if you can get past the price, this kit is terrific.

28 of 30 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars There's a lot to like here, June 14, 2009

By 

Damodar Chetty (Minnesota, US [www.swengsol.com]) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Actiontec MegaPlug A/V 200 Mbps Powerline Network Adapter Kit (White) (Personal Computers)

(What's this?)

Others have already described this product very nicely. So, I'll focus on a few areas that I think merit attention.

# Simplicity

As anyone who has tried helping a parent install a wireless networking product over the telephone can attest to, "networking" has always been synonymous with "complexity". With this product, it took me longer to get over my skepticism, than it did for the product to actually begin working!

# Transfer Rate

This device is rated at 200 Mbps over standard power lines, and 10/100 Mbps over Ethernet. To test this, I connected a notebook to each MegaPlug, both of which were connected to the same wall socket, and transferred a 1.3 GB file. The transfer rate averaged 57 Mbps, over a green Link LED indicating a good line.
[Notebook1 -> MegaPlug1 -> electrical wiring <- MegaPlug2 <- Notebook2]

Checking online quickly confirmed my suspicion that 200 Mbps is probably what can only be achieved under ideal test conditions. In other words, your mileage will definitely vary depending on the quality of the electrical wiring, and other factors such as electrical interference, etc. However, a rate of 57Mbps more than suffices for transmitting high def content, so this is probably as good as it gets.

# Switch Configuration

I also tried connecting one of the wall outlets to my router that is connected to my cable modem, and the other to a separate router in a different room, to which I connected my notebook. That worked just fine as well. So, you really just need one MegaPlug per network access point.

Notebook1 -> Switch -> MegaPlug1 -> electrical wiring <- MegaPlug2 -> Wireless Router -> Cable Modem

#Security

Security can be a problem in a multi-unit building since data signals travel through circuit breakers and stop at a transformer. Fortunately, these units come configured for 128-bit AES encryption.

Unfortunately, the User Guide on the ActionTec web site starts by saying "By default the adapters are NOT encrypted." That didn't jibe with what the MegaPlug QuickStart Guide claimed, "These adapters ship with a generic encryption key."

Since there's no way to tell whether on not encryption is enabled, I chose to follow the User Guide's advice.

However, the little black buttons on all your MegaPlugs must be pressed within 2 minutes of starting the process. (I had visions of an entire family darting around like fireflies if they had a full complement of 16 MegaPlugs installed!)

# Why this rating?

This product works as advertised, and provides the comfort of having a relatively secure and stable connection, making it a solid 4-star ("I Like It") product.

However, if I were buying this for a tech novice user, I'd rate it at 5-stars ("I Love It!") since the ease of setup and use would easily trump the convenience and cost of wireless. Ditto if I were trying to establish a network connection to a wireless dead spot.

Averaging this gives me 4.5 stars, and I'm rounding up.

Good Luck!
- Damodar

# Updated June 24, 2009:

Whoa! Belkin just announced the first Gigabit (1000 Mbps) Powerline product to reach the market (model F5D4076). As would be expected, it costs a tad bit more.

The max transfer rates will again depend on real-world conditions (such as electrical wiring, interference, etc.) But with 1 Gbps, there should still be plenty of headroom to spare.

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Good solution for adding network outlet, but beware of a few things..., June 1, 2009

By 

Sparky Jones (Seattle, WA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Actiontec MegaPlug A/V 200 Mbps Powerline Network Adapter Kit (White) (Personal Computers)

(What's this?)

I tried a different brand of these last year and they were awful. So I saw these offered 200Mbps with no external A/C adapters to mess with, so I decided to give these a try.

The good news is that these are definitely easy to set up. I would suggest using the encryption capability. (These can backfeed up the grid and you never know if your neighbors have one.) I would also suggest erasing the factory encryption key and generating a new one. Go to the Actiontec.com website and the PDF manual will explain how to do it.

After the easy setup, I was unable to get anything above 10Mbps except when using the same circuit. In fact, the manual on their website states:

"NOTE: To insure connectivity between the adapters, all adapters you wish to network together must be on the same circuit in your breaker box."

So for those of you who had better luck obtaining throughput on distance outlets, more power to you. (excuse the pun) I *was* able to get a connection at any outlet and surf the internet... which may suit the needs of many people. However, Hulu and SageTV did not stream video very well at the farthest outlets in my house (about 2300 sqft).

Nonetheless, I think this is a great option for those who need an additional network outlet in their home, SOHO, or rooms adjacent to them, and don't want to mess with wireless or running cables.

The fact they did not require external A/C adapters and do have one button easy setup are a plus.